Another Election Loser: Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion

November 5, 2014 4:47 PM

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Now that Republicans will be taking control of the Senate, party leaders will get the chance to stage a full vote on the repeal of Obamacare, forcing either a Democratic filibuster or a presidential veto. Either way, it will be pure theater, since there’s no real chance of undoing the law as long as President Obama remains in office. But the results of Tuesday’s election will still have a real impact on the Affordable Care Act’s provisions for state-level Medicaid expansions.

Six governors’ races provided a chance for a change of power that would mean a state that hadn’t already expanded Medicaid might change its mind: Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, and Wisconsin. Republicans ran the table with the exception of Alaska, which remains too close to call.